As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 11-238153, there has conventionally been known an on-vehicle automatic charging apparatus which obtains position information representing position of a vehicle by use of, for example, GPS; determines on the basis of the position information whether the vehicle has entered a charged area; when the vehicle is determined to have entered the charged area, calculates a charge amount; and subtracts the calculated charge amount from the balance of a prepaid card, an IC card, or a like card (hereinafter referred to as a “charge card”). An automatic charging system for a vehicle which includes such an on-vehicle automatic charging apparatus is designed in order to enable a user to increase the balance of his charge card by inserting the charge card into a card issuing machine (ground terminal apparatus) placed at an appropriate location on the ground and then placing money into the apparatus.
However, the above-described conventional system involves a problem in that when a manager of a location at which the card issuing machine is disposed differs from a manager of an area (road) in which a charge amount must be subtracted from the card, the manager of the area cannot receive the charge which the manger should normally receive.